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This fall, Tulane CFL lab members had the honor of presenting at two conferences: the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, APA, (https://convention.apa.org) and the 38th annual International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, ISTSS, (https://istss.org/home). Fourth year doctoral student Renee Lamoreau represented the lab at both conferences, doing both a poster presentation at APA and a symposium at ISTSS! At the 2022 annual conference of the American Psychological Association, second year doctoral student Hilary Skov presented her poster and represented the Gray lab incredibly well. Second year doctoral student Allison Pequet also did an amazing job presenting her research in a poster at ISTSS. We are elated to highlight their accomplishments below.

Renee’s poster for APA focused on the relationship between childhood maltreatment and children’s emotion regulation skills. Renee’s findings showed that household chaos and psychological aggression work together to influence child emotion dysregulation. Her research demonstrates the importance of household chaos as an important predictor of child outcomes over and above parenting behaviors. To learn more about this research, contact rlamoreau@tulane.edu. Other lab members Hilary Skov, Allison Pequet, and Dr. Sarah Gray also supported this research.  

Hilary’s poster for APA focused on the role of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) withdrawal (a clinical biological marker of stress sensitivity) in the relationship between COVID-19 stressor exposure and subjective stress levels. Her research found that children with higher levels of RSA withdrawal were associated with a stronger relationship between covid stress exposure and subjective stress. Results also showed that RSA withdrawal is a risk factor for higher levels of subjective stress. This demonstrates the importance of understanding biomarkers of stress sensitivity, like RSA, within economically and racially marginalized communities, as these families face increased risk for COVID-19 stress exposure. Anna Wilson, Erin Glackin, Victoria Parker, and Dr. Sarah Gray collaborated with Hilary on this poster. 

Then, in November at ISTSS, Renee Lamoreau and Allison Pequet both presented their work within the lab! 

Second year graduate student Allison Pequet did a great poster presentation on the unintended positive changes of COVID-19 and their effects on post-traumatic stress symptoms. Her research showed that there was significant positive and significant negative association between negative COVID-19 stressors and maternal post traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This work explains that mothers who experience high levels of covid-related stressors and have few opportunities to experience positive changes are at high risk for PTSS. This strengths-based work was well received at ISTSS and we are so proud of her! Lab members Casey Schulkind and Dr. Sarah Gray supported Allison’s work on her poster. 

Renee Lamoreau and Monica Daniels, both school psychology PhD students at Tulane and part of the Mom Power team, did a symposium presentation about Mom Power and the results of a virtual group adaptation for mothers with trauma histories. Their presentation focused on the flexibility offered by virtual interventions, the importance of representation in their support group materials and facilitating culturally relevant conversations with their study participants during Mom Power. This presentation reported on mothers’ self-reported data collected after the six-week intervention which showed the benefits of the virtual adaptation to the study including reduced access barriers to increase attendance. This work was also supported by Anna Wilson, Hilary Skov, Victoria Parker, and Dr. Sarah Gray.

We are so proud of all of the fantastic work in the lab from last fall!

This past weekend, CFL undergraduate research assistant, Arielle Morris, traveled to Salt Lake City to present her poster presentation at the Society for Research in Child Development’s 2023 Biennial Meeting (https://www.srcd.org). Arielle received the award for 2023 Student and Early Career Council (SECC) Poster Competition Winner! We are so proud of all her incredible work and receiving this honor! Her research focused on the relationship on how maternal and child factors predicted children’s emotion regulation and children’s subjective COVID-relatred stress during the pandemic. She found that children who experienced higher non-COVID stress exposure had lower emotion regulation. However, children that experienced higher objective COVID-related stress and mothers who had higher subjective COVID-related stress and higher emotion dysregulation, both showed greater levels of subjective COVID-related stress. Her work was supported by Allison Pequet and Dr. Sarah Gray in the lab.  

In March, the Child and Family Lab had two poster presentations at the Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit! Lab members worked in two groups to produce incredible research and share their findings. Gabby Levine, undergraduate research assistant, presented her group’s poster. Kacy Stoddard and Kavya Subramaniam, both undergraduate research assistants, presented their work at the research summit. We’re so proud of both groups’ work! 

Gabby’s poster discussed the co-contribution of emotion recognition and social support on children’s social interaction. Results showed that in absence of both emotion recognition and maternal social support, children’s social interaction skills may suffer. So, either maternal social support or children’s emotion recognition skills can support children’s social interaction skills. This work highlights a common misunderstanding in schools that overvalues emotion recognition tasks. This research demonstrates that maternal social support is equally important in predicting social interaction in children. Gabby received the 1st place award for her presentation! Congratulations to all the authors who greatly supported this work: Allison Pequet, Anna Wilson, Lily Donald, Mykal White, and Dr. Sarah Gray. 

Kavya and Kacy’s poster focused on the association between post-traumatic stress and COVID-19 stress and parenting sense of competency. Their research demonstrated a significant indirect effect of COVID-related stressor exposure on parenting competency through PTSS, which suggests that exposure to COVID-related stressors impacted parenting sense of competency by elevating parents’ post-traumatic stress symptoms. This work is important for helping support mothers through and beyond the pandemic. Kavya and Kacy both did an excellent job presenting their research and the rest of their group! Thanks to those who supported this project within the lab: Sydney Hawkins, Cristina Miles, Anna Wilson, and Dr. Sarah Gray. 

Great work to both groups at the 2023 Tulane Research, Innovation, and Creativity Summit!

Last October, Renee Lamoreau, a third-year School Psychology Doctoral Student from our lab presented research at the 68th annual AACAP conference. She presented on how maternal emotion dysregulation indirectly affects child behavior problems and how stress from COVID-19 has exacerbated mother’s regulatory capacities. Though this was a unique presentation format, we are excited to be able to continue to engage in research-related dialogue. Congratulations to Renee and her team!

Congratulations to our fall 2021 Graduates! Two of our incredible senior lab members graduated at the end of the fall 2021 semester and while we are sad to see them go, the lab is so proud of all of their contributions in and out of the lab!

Racquel graduated Cum Laude with a B.S. in Political Science and Psychology! Racquel plans to attend graduate school starting in fall 2022 to pursue her PsyD with a focus on childhood Clinical Psychology.

Both Alexa and Racquel were valued members of our lab team and made significant contributions to many ongoing projects in the lab! We will miss you both and wish you all the best luck in your next steps!

We are so excited to celebrate the accomplishments of all of our incredible Gray lab graduates this year! Congratulations to Eve Segel, Molly O’Neill, Anna Wilson, Margo Nickerson, Celeste Pinto, Janie Park, Jana Becker, Georgia Gray, Chloe Pickett, Elsia Obus and Ginny Hatch! 

Eve, Molly, Anna and Margo comprise our graduating seniors this year. Each has made various and unique contributions to the lab’s work and culture over their time with us. While we are sad to see them go, we are confident that each will continue to broaden their positive impact in all that they do!

To feature some of the amazing accomplishments of this group of seniors, Eve graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Psychology. She was also awarded the Changemaker Catalyst Award from the Taylor Center. Eve has since moved to Chicago and is working as a Developmental Coordinator for Chicago Jewish Day School. Molly graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Psychology and was invited to be a member of both Psi Chi and Phi Beta Kappa honor societies in recognition of her academic achievements. She is heading to Texas Christian University to begin her graduate degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling! Molly hopes to become a family-focused LPC after her time at TCU. Anna graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.S. in Psychology and Political Science and a minor in Spanish. Anna was awarded the Rosa Cahn Hartman Medal for excellence in her academic performance and research activities in Psychology and was also invited to join Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. Anna will be staying in New Orleans and taking over as the Lab Manager of the Child and Family Lab! Margo graduated Summa Cum Laude with majors in Neuroscience and Psychology. She received the Aaron Hartman Award, recognizing exceptional performance in academic and research activities in Psychology. She was also invited to be a member of Phi Beta Kappa academic honor society. This fall, she will be attending Indiana University School of Medicine, where she is excited to pursue her medical education and contribute to the health of her community.

Celeste, Janie, Jana, and Georgia all graduated this year with their Masters in Behavioral Health Sciences from Tulane. All four of them completed exceptional work in their Master’s program and were a joy to have as part of the lab!

Celeste will be starting medical school at Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine in the fall. Janie will be heading to The University of Notre Dame to complete her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology. Jana completed her Master’s with a 4.0 and will now be working as a Research Coordinator with the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. Georgia completed her Master’s with a focus on intervention. This year she plans to work in a school to become more familiar with the school setting before applying to school psychology doctoral programs next year. Thank you all for your amazing contributions to the lab throughout your time with us! We are grateful to have you all as members of the Gray Lab community and looking forward to watching you all move on to your next steps.

This year we also have THREE amazing doctoral students who are moving on to their internships! Congratulations to Chloe, Elsia and Ginny for all of their hard work throughout their time in the program. Each of them has played such an integral role in the lab with their research, compassion, and as leaders for the rest of the lab. We are so appreciative of all of your contributions and cannot wait to watch you all excel in your new roles!

Chloe is heading to Columbus, Indiana to work at the National Psychology Training Consortium – Great Lakes. Centerstone. Elsia will be heading to New York and working at Westchester Jewish Community Services (WJCS). Ginny will be in Pasadena, CA at Pacific Clinics with a primary emphasis in the Birth to Five program. 

Lastly, we congratulate our incredible lab manager, Victoria Parker, as she heads to Tulane Psychiatry to work as a Parent Educator as part of the Tulane Parenting Education Program! Victoria has worked in the lab for over 5 years and her contributions and presence will be dearly missed! We wish you the best of luck in this next step, Victoria!

Last week, members of the Gray lab research team virtually presented at the Society for Research in Child Development Biennial Meeting. Though this was a unique presentation format, we are excited to be able to continue to engage in research-related dialogue.

Elsia Obus, M.S. and Stephanie Ann Swanberg, M.S. were panelists in a roundtable discussion on trauma-informed, evidence-based interventions during COVID-19. All of the roundtable presenters were New Orleans-based scholar-practitioners who shared their respective interventions as case studies with the goal of answering, “How do you adapt trauma-informed, evidence-based practice for telehealth in a culturally and contextually responsive way across developmental stages?”. Elsia and Stephanie focused on how Mom Power impacts developmental, cultural, and contextual telehealth adaptations of care.

Renee Lamoreau, Ed.M presented a paper symposium talk on Intimate Partner Violence and Preschool Self-Regulation: Examining the Role of Maternal Emotion Socialization, on behalf of Janie Park B.S., Hillary Skov B.A., Victoria Parker, B.A., and Sarah Gray, Ph.D.

Victoria Parker, B.A. presented research on Regulatory Pathways of Child Social-Emotional Competencies: An Exploratory Structural Equation Model, on behalf of Erin Glackin, M.A., and Sarah Gray, Ph.D.

Elsia Obus, M.S. presented research on Disrupting the Family Stress-Proximal Process: A Critical Review of Interventions for Children with Incarcerated Parents, on behalf of Alexa Garfinkle, Celeste Pinto, B.S., Victoria Parker, B.A., and Sarah Gray, Ph.D.

Virginia Hatch, M.S. presented research on Maternal Insightfulness and Preschool School Readiness, on behalf of Lauren Fleming, B.S., Jana Becker, B.S., Anna Wilson, and Sarah Gray, Ph.D.

Congratulations to all who presented!

Last week, our Lab Manager, Victoria Parker, presented Tulane Child and Family lab research at the 36th annual ISTSS conference. She presented on how high rates of early exposure to violence may uniquely impact distinct dimensions of hot and cool self-regulation and corresponding social-emotional competencies in preschoolers. Although this was a new virtual format for the lab, we are excited to be able to continue to engage in research production and presentation.

Last week was a busy one here at the Child and Family Lab! Three of our 5th-year graduate students, Elsa Obus, Chloe Pickett, and Ginny Hatch were successful in completing their comprehensive exams and are now all officially doctoral candidates! Of note, Elsa passed with distinction, a rare honor in the department. We could not be more proud of all  of their hard work to get to this point. Congratulations Elsa, Chloe, and Ginny!

Disrupting the Family Stress-Proximal Process: A Comprehensive Review of Interventions for Children with Incarcerated Parents.

HERstory Untold: Black Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors’ Experiences of Coping with Racism and Trauma While Successfully Navigating the Early Years of Motherhood.

Mother’s Insightfulness and Children’s School Readiness in the Context of Intergenerational Adversity